The latest Economic Impact Report (EIR) from the World Travel and Tourism Council shows that the European travel and tourism sector is expected to create up to eight million new jobs over the next decade.
Forecasts from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) also show that the sector will be the driving force behind Europe’s economic recovery after more than two years of hardship.
Over the next 10 years, at a CAGR of 3.3%, the travel and tourism sector is expected to grow twice as fast as the overall economy, which is expected to grow at just 1.5% per annum.
The latest report from the World Tourism Organization also says that GDP in travel and tourism in Europe will grow by 31.4% to 1.73 trillion euros (1.9 trillion US dollars).
Julia Simpson, President of WTTC, said: “The European travel and tourism industry is experiencing a strong recovery. It looks like up to eight million new tourism jobs will be created in the next 10 years.”
In terms of contribution to the economy and employment in Europe, it looks like the sector will almost reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year as the industry recovery continues to gain momentum.
“The recovery in 2021 has been slower than expected due to the impact of Omicron and the uncoordinated response of European governments to border closures that failed to stop the spread of the virus but caused real and long-term damage to economies and livelihoods,” says Julia Simpson.